Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-03-09
Gid SOWING.
Subject o. DIscussion IN the Preobytsrian
Church Last Might.

nc AOIoWIng II an Abstract oil the sub
ject discussed at the prayer-mceting in
the Presbyterian Church last night, in
which the pastor said:
Good seed has vitality, and retains II a
long time. Some kinds of seed preserve
the power to terminate fer several centu.
ries. 1t has the power of reproduction.
Nature Is true TO herself and produces the
kind Of seed that was sown. We do not
get wheat from corn, or oats from rye.
Now Christ teaches In his parallels.
that what is true in nature is true in his
spiritual kingdom. If we want truth to
come out in our example and chaEacter,
we must SOW 1t In our minds If we want
harvest that will be JOY to us. we must
attend TO the sowing. We cannot have
wheat If we SOW tarcs.
We cannot neglect the sowing and ex-
pect harvest, for we find weeds and
thorns, not wheat and corn, growing on
neglected ground.
The seed we are to SOW in these minds
Of ours is the word Of God. This Is, the
good seed. This seed has been known to
preserve its vitality for many years. for
sown in childhood, 1t has produced har-
vest in old age. Because 1t has such vi
tally, we may hope that 81 will terminate
and produce good fruit. For that reason
the parent ought to be eager to get the good
seed OF Gods word into the mind of his
child. lie may wander frem the truth
but he will come back to it, If he have it
n his mind
The soacer of the seed is the minister,
the Sunday School teacher, the christian
parent, and indeed, any one who is striv-
ing to spread the great truths of the Bible
Christian people everywhere arc called to
this work of sowing the good seed, of
spreading abroad the truths Of our holy
religion. 1t is contained in the religious
books we circulate as well as in the Bible,
in the papers aud tracts we distribute, in
the religious conversations in which we
engage.
This seed is to be scattered erergchere
If some should be lost and wasted, we are
not 10 stop sowing on that account. The
sower in the parable is not rebuked be.
cause some fell upon the hard ground,
where there was no chance for growth,
or upon the rock, or among the thorns.
We are to SOW the seed even where growth
SENS TO be impossible. From some hearts
that are hard, like the path through the
fields, the good seed will be taken, in
others il will never take root, and in others
1t will be hindered from growing by the
cares and anxieties of life. While we
know that growth in such hearts is him
dered, yet we are to keep on sowing. How
much good seed has been wasted on MANY
heartsl But the good ground is the heart
that has been prepared for the seed. and
in it the feed grows and brings forth
fruit. Into that receptive mind the seed
ought to be cast with the hope that it will
flourish and yield rich harvest. When
the minds of people are prepared by un.
usual religious interest, there ought to be
the most instructive preaching, and con-
versation filled with the truths of God s
word. In the minds of little children
that have not been blinded by sin and
filed with care and folly, these great
truths ought to be placed with the feeling
that after while they will bring forth a
harvest of good
Gods word tells us aclsen we arc to sow
the good seed in the heart. We find in
the world of nature that there are times
when 1t is useless to SOW seed If we
want crop of wheat, we must sow in
some localities in the fall, in other local
tiles. in the spring. If we SOW in mid
summer or midwinter, we shall have no
reward for our labor.
But in sowing the truth we are told .
I'm the morning SOW thy seed, and in the
evening withhold not thine hand; for
thou knowest not whether shall prosper,
either this or that, or whether they both
shall be alike good Life in various
places is likened to day, and when it
refers, as it does here, TO morning and
evening of the day, it means all the time
We may be sewers of the good seed in
the evening Of life, that is in old age, as
Well as in the morning of life, in our
youthful days.
If christian people felt as they should,
that their whole lives should be filled with
getting the truth into their own and other
hearts, there would not be so much pre-
cious time wasted, and the good accom-
plished would be many fold more than it
now is
Let it be our desire to obtain the truth,
and to give 1t very wide circulation
among our fellow men.